Thursday, March 24, 2016

The results are in in John Key's flag referendum, showing (as expected) a strong majority for keeping the old flag. John Key has been spinning for weeks that this wasn't about him, but lest we forget: he promoted flag change as his "legacy", he effectively directed the flag change panel to choose ferns, then endorsed one of the contenders and wore it on his lapel for months; the "change" campaign was run out of the beehive by his staff. This was John Key's flag, and that was why it was voted down: not because enough people didn't want change (hell, 915,000 people hate the current flag so much they'd vote for Kyle Lockwood's beach towel), but because they didn't want this change, or they didn't want it like this. By involving himself in the process, Key turned the referendum into one on him, not on the flag. And he deserved to lose it.

And now that its out of the way, maybe we can do this properly. With real choices, not anodyne corporate logos, and a Prime Minister who knows their fucking place and stays the hell out of our decision.